Your Calendar Hates You.

The corporate calendar doesn't care about you. Face it. No, really... look at it. If it looks like the one most people who work at corporate America have, it is stacked up with meetings, trainings, birthday lunches, and happy hours for people you hardly know. How can your calendar let this happen?

Over the last 16 years the corporate calendar has been at the center of your universe. You tell everyone how much you need it...

I live and die by my calendar!

You are considerate of your calendar in all the plans you make...

I'll have to check my calendar.

It is the first person you tell about anything you have to do...

If I don't put it on my calendar it won't happen.

So why the heck is your calendar so inconsiderate of your needs and desires? Why does it continue to fill up your days with things you don't want to do? Doesn't it know you have to reserve some time for actual work? Not just work but fun too? How will you ever learn to salsa dance if you can't find the time?!? The minute you don't reserve time for yourself, your angry calendar lets other people in. How rude. More, it makes you tell people no when you don't want to do something. Why doesn't your calendar have your back?

I think I know why. Your calendar is mad. Mad because it got stuffed in into an email program. Yep, 16 years ago it became second fiddle and no one has ever thought enough of it to set it free. Your calendar is hurt.

It's hurt because it realizes what we don't. It manages our most valuable asset - time. It's the most important tool we have but we are off all day finding new apps to try and save us time. All the while our calendar is saying...

Yoohoo! What about me... I'm right here. I can help if you let me.

It's right you know. It wants to do so much more but we never gave it the chance. I'd imagine if our calendar got a one-hour pitch session with us it would have a lot to say...

Why don't you let me know about the rest of your workload? If I knew you had all these tasks in other project management systems I'd reserve time for you to do them!!! If you told me that you didn't want to spend more than 30% of your time in meetings I'd guard that with my life! If I knew that you didn't want to attend meetings that had more than three people I'd make sure that never happened. I PROMISE!

Yeah. I'd bet the calendar could go on like that for hours. Sadly enough, I don't think our calendar will ever get that meeting. I mean no one is even asking about it. When you Google future of the calendar you just see a bunch of articles on how to hack the existing model. The calendar doesn't want to be hacked. It wants to be free.